Andy Murray made the debut of new coach Amelie Mauresmo a good one with an opening round win over Paul-Henri Mathieu at Queen’s. The 6-4, 6-4 win over the Frenchman was Murray’s 19th straight on grass, a streak that began at the 2012 London Olympics. But all the attention was on the new partnership with Mauresmo.

“We spoke a bit about the match and the tactics and then chatted a little bit afterwards,” Murray said. “But this week there’s not going to be any big changes in my game. I also wouldn’t expect any before Wimbledon.

“We’ll definitely work on some things after the tournament is finished here. We will chat about the stuff that I will be working on over the next few days, and then when I get the chance to after the tournament is finished here, I’ll get four or five days of practice where I can work on some things.”

Murray will now meet tour veteran Radek Stepanek.

Meeting a quick end were former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt who was sent off by Feliciano Lopez and French Open semifinalist Ernests Gulbis who was upset by Kenny De Schepper 7-6, 7-5.

“Honestly I didn’t feel I played that bad,” said the 10th-ranked Gulbis. “I hit the ball pretty well on the racquet. Moving was bad, but he served incredible. I mean, I had six break points the first set. You have to give the guy credit. He served really, really well in important points. What can I do?”

Stan Wawrinka, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Sergei Stakhovsky were also winners.

“That’s a dangerous draw,” Nadal said today. “It’s not the perfect entry into the tournament because Dustin is such a tough opponent. You never know what to expect with him. He plays with a lot of inspiration, very aggressively. It’s going to be a really big challenge for me.”

Who is Peter Gojowczyk?? He beat Milos in Halle.
What’s up with that? Milos is supposed to be one of the young guns that’s gonna make it big….whoa…not yet! Maybe he has a health issue, I think more do than don’t as of late.

Purcell, the amazing thing is that there are still people who say Andy is boring. One on the ATP forums has just said so, using the tired, tired crack about watching paint dry.

As you and I and real tennis fans know, Andy hardly plays the same shot twice running, in a rally, but no, he’s “boring”. These people are like the adolescents posting on boxing forums who think a win doesn’t count unless there’s a knockout and, preferably, lots of blood.

By the way, Tomic, who’s struggled lately, took Stepanek to two tiebreaks, which suggests Andy’s next opponent is not in devastating form.

i can see immediate improvement in andy since hiring the wta player. the wimbledon champion won a match on grass.

reality check: my dog could coach andy murray to a queen’s victory and even a wimbledon victory.
murray is one of the best grass court players on the planet.

so let’s not make his 2014 grass season about a wta player. she has nothing to do with his current level and any future benefit he gets from her will be immeasurably small at this point in his career given his game is firmly established.

the only time mauresmo could possibly have helped him was before he won his GS’s, since mauresmo was a choker for most of her career but turned it around. but that conversation could have happened over dinner and didn’t need a coaching contract.

Guys, Federer just dropped the first set in a TB to Sousa (who has never won a grass court match). Sousa’s playing well but Rog is looking really rusty. He didn’t convert any of his 7 BP opportunities. Still early yet but disconcerting.

The maestro is in the next round and that only counts. He can only imrpove from now on. Potentially Ivo in the next round. Tough one. But him and nishikori and nadal in the final would be confidence booster if he wins them all.

Rather terrible first set from Fed despite good serving. Initially excellent play by Sousa. Good job his game dropped off or Fed would have been out. Lovely exchange at net and wait for it…..Sousa and Fed equal first in lustrous locks department. Breathtaking slow motion shots of Fed.
Yeah, Karlovic….great bloke.
Roll on Andy.

I live in Rio and the atmosphere is insane. Although few are a bit scared due to people not happy with the event and corruption behind it if it’s going to be some manifestation.
Living work in 30 minutes, downtown is deserted already.

It’s a big event in Brazil as I think we are the most loving soccer nation that it, but I’ll rather be in London in 2 weeks time:-)

Totally perplexing loss by Andy today. He had 8 set points…yes 8…and couldn’t convert. He looked listless in the 1st set and just plain flat in the 2nd. Steps is a very tricky player, especially on grass. I’m not too concerned. I think he’s still pooped from the RG run. This will give more time to bond with Amelie.

Jess Says:
With Fed lately it has always been break-point conversions.He was 0/5 for break-points in the first set. At least it didn’t get as bad as that MC match he played against Tsonga.

——-

This has been an ongoing issue with Federer for a very long time now. His inability to convert a deccent % of his break point opportunities has been the main area was his game has shown cracks over the past 5 years. I think back to the Wimbledon final with Roddick. Even by 2009, this was a problem and it had been a problem as far back as 2008. Federer plays a timing game. If he loses a step or his reflexes slow by a hair, his game still looks nice but he doesn’t get the results. Same thing happened to Sampras.

Irritating that Andy couldn’t close out that fist set.
A win would have been more helpful than usual at queens, but then a loss is no big deal.
He might just need the down time more than usual anyway.
Yes, a nice reality check.
Misery loves company Rafa is serving to avoid a loss, & bagel.

It could happen to any of them on a fast GC
Although its usually happening to Fedal these days.
I think the only way anyone can beat Nadal (apart from Novak) is to shoot from the hip and hope for your `one good day`.

Wow, this Brown guy came inside the baseline very quickly to return that first serve…….scary good! He looked very impressive……but where is this dude deeper in the tourneys? Has he won any titles? He was fun to watch, I will admit. On to the practice courts and then Wimby!! This outcome was no surprise to me.

This loss has to put at least some doubts in Rafa’s mind regarding Wimbledon. 6-4 6-0 is a serious dustin’ by Dustin. Have to believe Rafa hasn’t acclimated himself yet. There isn’t much time.

No worries though. I’m sure Humble Rafa will come up with some clever rationalization for this loss. Something about cows or other livestock. I just can’t wait to hear it.

The grass season is short. Too short given that a slam is played on it. It would be nice to see a 4 or 5 week grass court season with both the clay and hardcourt seasons giving up a week. Even next year’s three week change doesn’t seem like enough.

`how come nadal now sucks on grass, earlier in his 20′s he use to make all grass court finals…`

Channel slams are for the young uns.
Rafa has definitely been under a lot more pressure at this point of the year than in the past.
Because Rafa won RG I would be very surprised if he won Wimbledon this year.
You have to hand it to Borg and his 3 channel slams
Amazing particularly given the increased difference of the surfaces back then.

Oh my gosh, Andy got beat. Not surprised by Rafa losing early, certainly not the first time, but I am a little shocked about Andy. Steps can be a force at times if he gets all ramped up. Dustin my go on and win Halle as pumped as he is right now beating #1.

NID. Dull exposed once more as a one-dimensional moonballing slow court pusher, who is unable to play on real tennis surface. It’s hilarious how out of place Dull looks on grass. It’s a shame that Wimbledon grass is way slower than this – Dull might actually fluke a win or two there.

Rafa has won wimbledon twice and has been to the final 5 times. I am not really a fan of Nadal but to say he is one dimensional really shows that you know little about tennis. A career slam is not an easy thing to achieve. Ask Sampras. Ask Nole. Ask McEnroe.

Funnily enough, one of the best things in Andy’s match was a point he lost. Doing his usual “get one more ball back” schtick, he slipped at the side of the court and took an undignified sprawl. He rolled over and got up with a sheepish smile.

Only a few short weeks ago, he’d have shouted – not in pain but alarmed – and then sat there feeling bits of himself to see if there was damage. I think he’s stopped worrying about his back.

Now he needs to get the serve sorted out. Please do that, Andy. Please!